Trolling release



Feb. 21, 1956 J. w. BAUM 2,735,212

TROLLING RELEASE Original Filed Oct. 50, 1950 United States Patent TROLLING RELEASE John W. Baum, Eugene, Oreg.

Original application October 30, 1950, Serial No. 193,063, now Patent No. 2,667,008, dated January 26, 1954. Divided and this application June 15, 1953, Serial No. 361,586

4 Claims. (Cl. 43-4312) This invention relates to improvements in fishing tackle for underwater trolling and, more particularly, to triggered, shock-absorbing, yieldable connectors or trolling releases joining the leader and fishing line and adapted to absorb the initial impact of the strike, before the tension on the leader is imposed on the fishing line. The present application is a division of my prior application Serial No. 193,003, filed'October 30, 1950, for Trolling Harness, now Patent No. 2,667,008, issued January 26, 1954.

In deep trolling for game fish considerable difliculty is encountered, even by adepts, in maintaining weighted lures at the desired depths below the surface. Additionally, the maintaining of the lures at the desired deep trolling depths, with the manipulation of the rod and line to maintain such depths, and to efiectively hook a game fish when the strike is made, requires a combination of the utmost skill and favorable circumstances.

I have found that the above enumerated difiiculties can be essentially overcome by eliminating the weighting of the lure, and providing what 1 term a drop sinker triangle, in which a heavy, weighted line is secured to a boat, adjacent the anglers seat, and a second, relatively short line is connected to and between the heavy line and the leader to the lure. A two-piece trolling release connects the leader to the short line and is adapted to be automatically released when the strike is made at the lure, whereby the initial shock due to the strike is taken up in the lost motion triggering of the device, and the tension of the leader is transferred through the fishing line to the rod only when the strike is made.

' It is, therefore, among the objects of the present invention to provide improved deep trolling fishing tackle with automatic depth maintenance, including a shock-absorbing, triggered release connecting the leader to the depth maintaining device and adapted, upon a strike being effected at the lure, to take up the initial impact, and

to be unlatched, whereby to simultaneously transfer the pull of the fish to the fishing rod and to disconnect the leader from the depth maintaining device.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a three part, shock-absorbing, trolling release having a restricted travel or yield, as well as such a trolling release with mutually detachable parts.

The above and other desirable objects of the present invention will be more clearly understood by reference to the accompanying drawings and description thereof wherein preferred forms of the invention are shown and described, byway of illustration only, for, since the underlying features may be incorporated in other specific devices, it is not intended to be limited to the ones here shown except as such limitations are clearly imposed by the appended claims.

In the drawings, like numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views of which Figure 1 is a diagrammatic showing of the mounting of the novel shock-absorbing, deep trolling tackle;

2,735,212 Patented Feb. 21, 1956 Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing a fishing line and connections, after a strike is made;

Fig. 3 is a detail of a triggered trolling release of the light duty type directly connecting the fishing line from the rod to the leader of the lure;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation and Fig. 5 is a plan view of the detachable triggered trolling release or connector of Figs. 1 and 2; and

Fig. 6 is a cross-section taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 4.

Referring now to the drawings, a boat I, having sides 2 and stern 3, mounts a cleat or other securing member 4- adjacent the stern. To this cleat is secured a heavy line 5 which supports a sash weight or other like device 6 at its lower end. An adjustable eyelet 7 is secured in place on the line 5, and at any predetermined distance, as will be described more in detail hereinafter. A fishing rod 10 is secured in place in the boat in any desired manner, as in a holder, and can be fixedly mounted, or removable for hand control. The fishing line 11 connects the rod to the leader 12 through swivel connector 13 and looped end '27 of the two-part, spring wire, triggered trolling release 20. The other end of the trolling release 26 is connected to line 15, and heavy drag line 5, through connections 16 and 7.

The separable, two-piece trolling release 20 comprises a shock-absorbing, trigger member 21, and a combination connector-latch member 22. The member 21 includes a straight body portion 23, of suitable length, having a free end 25, and looped on itself to form an eyelet 27, and extended laterally to form a shock-absorbing spring release or latch member 29. The member 22 comprises a rectilinear top portion 24 comprised of parallel legs 24a and 24b joined in a continuous loop or eyelet 26. The longer leg, 24a, terminates in a hook 24', while the shorter leg 24b is bent downwardly and then horizontally to the rear, as shown at 28. It is reversely bent at 28a, and then bent upwardly, as shown at 28b, to terminate in a looped end 28', the turns of which are engaged and locked by hook 24. A coiled keeper 22' is slidably mounted on and over section 24, eyelet 26 and section 22, serving as end stops therefor. The member 22 may also be formed of fiat sheet metal, bent to shape on and over member 24.

The members 21 and 22 of trolling release 20 are desirably made of hard drawn wire of any rust-resistant metal, such as stainless steel, or suitably protected spring brass. When the strike is made, section 21 will be detached from section 22, against the bias of latch member 29, and the tension in leader 12 will be transferred through line 11 to the fishing rod 10. The line 11 is connected to swivel connector 13 by loop 14, which is fixedly connected to eyelet 27 of trigger member 21. With the strike made, and the line in the condition shown in Fig. 2, there will be no extraneous equipment tointerfere with the angler fighting the fish, and the drag line 5 and attachments can be drawn up into the boat, as shown, out of the way. The heavy line 5 is of any desired length, and the short line 15 can desirably be of the order of 10 feet long. With this combination, and as shown in Fig. l, the line 5 will be carried rearwardly at an angle to the boat by the sash weight 6, and the combination will act as a weed guard, thereby reducing possible snagging against underwater obstructions. This feature is of particular importance in bottom fishing as the leader and its lure are thereby protected.

To counteract the tendency of the trolling release 20 to spin or twist while trolling, a sinker 30 may be secured on and over latch member 29 and held in place thereby. When the latch is released, the sinker will be detached and may be permitted to fall to the bottom, being lost. Where it is desired to keep the sinker and not lose it, it may be attached to a line 31 of relatively short length, and having "b .J a looped end or connection 32 slidably fitted on and over leader 12 for the lure 49. With such a device, when the strike" is made, the sinker 30 will be carried back or slide down to the lure, and there will be no possibility of its interference with the fighting of the game fish.

The invention herein, as described immediately above, is particularly adapted for use in deep trolling for game fish where the fisherman can have the sport of fighting the fish without the usual weight at the lure. ln conventional deep trolling practice, to secure the necessary trolling depth, the lure must be suitably weighted. By the improvements herein the Weighting of the lure is entirely done away with and no added burden is imposed on either the fish or the fisherman. The trolling depth, as is readily apparent from the description herein, will be determined by the position of connector 7 on the drag line 5. Leader 12 and connector 15 will ride relatively horizontal, and this condition can be assured, as well as twisting of the lines prevented, by utilizing a two-ounce sinker or the like, as a detachable weighting device for the triggered trolling release 20.

Where surface trolling is to be used, and as shown in Fig. 3, the fishing line 11 is connected to the leader 12 through the trolling release 20, the line being secured to eyelet 26 of the body portion 22, and the leader, or rather its swivel connector 13, to the eyelet 27 of latch member 21 of the release. As the tension on the line, during surface fishing, will not approximate the tension obtaining in deep trolling, the sections 21 and 22 of connector may be secured or fastened for limited yielding movement rather than complete mutual detachment. This is accomplished by forming the free end of latch member 21 as an inturned hook 25', as shown in Fig. 3. With such a device, when a strike is made and member 21 is unlatched from connector 20, the leg 23 will be pulled rearwardly of the device, and its movement will be arrested when its hooked end 25' carries keeper 22' into engagement with section 22. In this condition the tension from the leader is transmitted directly to the fishing line through the connector which has subserved its initial useful purpose of a snubber or shock-absorber for avoiding a direct jerk on line 11 while insuring that the tension necessary for embedding the hook at the moment of the strike" is effected by the spring bias or tension of the latch member 29.

The novel trolling releases herein are, as previously noted, of two-part construction and mutually detachable or mutually yieldable and interlocking and can be made of any suitable rust-proof spring Wire, and in any desired gauge, depending upon the fishing conditions to be encountered. The complete or limited detachability of the component parts of the connectors can be varied to suit the user, and the components can be separately fabricated and sold, with all parts interfitting, so that replacements can be readily made. The completely detachable memt ber of Figs. 4 to 6 can be made interlocking by the simple expedient of looping the end 25 to form a hook 25, as shown in Fig. 3. The striking tension of the device can be regulated at will by suitably varying the configuration of spring latch member 29. All of these adjustments can be made with a simple pliers by the fisherman at the time of use. Thus, if it is found that a suitable strike cannot be made because of improper tension in the latch member, the deficiency can be immediately remedied by bending the latch to the proper shape.

T 0 sum up, the novel trolling release of the present invention has the following advantages: It can be used for very deep trolling; it can be manufactured and sold to the public at very reasonable cost and with troublefree performance; it can be manufactured in various sizes for all types of under-water fishing; because of its twopart construction the spring trigger part may be sold as a separate item to reduce the cost to the public if the trigger should be lost or broken, and the trigger is adjusb able to a desired tension by bending to secure the hook setting tension.

I claim:

l. A trolling release of the character described comprising a first wire member having a straight body section bent and coiled on itself at one end to form an eyelet and a lateral spring arm; a second wire member having an elongated body portion terminating at one end in an eyelet and offset at the other end to form a keeper for the lateral spring arm, the said keeper having its free end coiled about the body portion to form a journal bearing, a coiled wire keeper slidably engaging the body section, said bearing and said coiled wire keeper receiving the body portion of the first said wire member in sliding engagement, and the spring arm keeper receiving the lateral spring arm in spring bearing engagement, the two wire members being mutually displaceable, against the spring bias of said spring arm, by opposed pulls on the two said members.

2. A trolling release of the character described comprising a first wire member having a straight body section bent and coiled on itself at one end to form an eyelet and a lateral spring arm; a second wire member having an elongated body portion terminating at one end in an eyelet and offset at the other end to form a keeper for the lateral spring arm, the said keeper having its free end coiled about the body portion to form a journal bearing, a second keeper slidably engaging the body section, said bearing and said second keeper receiving the body portion of the first said wire member in sliding engagement, and the spring arm keeper receiving the lateral spring arm in spring bearing engagement, the two wire members being mutually displaceable, against the spring bias of said spring arm, by opposed pulls on the two said members.

3. A trolling release of the character described comprising a first wire member having a straight body section bent and coiled on itself at one end to form an eyelet and a lateral spring arm, and bent on itself at the other end to form a hook; a second wire member having an elongated body portion terminating at one end in an eyelet and offset at the other end to form a keeper for the lateral spring arm, the said keeper having its free end coiled about the body portion to form a journal bearing, a coiled wire keeper slidably engaging the body section, said bearing and said coiled wire keeper receiving the body portion of the first said wire member in sliding engagement and the spring arm keeper receiving the lateral spring armin spring bearing engagement, the two wire members being mutually displaceable against the spring bias of said spring arm by opposed pulls on the two said members.

4. A trolling release of the character described, comprising a first wire member having a straight body section bent and coiled on itself at one end to form an eyelet and a lateral spring arm, and bent on itself at the other end 7 to form a hook; a second wire member having an elongated body portion terminating at one end in an eyelet and ofiset at the other end to form a keeper for the lateral spring arm, the said keeper having its free end coiled about the body portion to form a journal bearing, a second keeper slidably engaging the body section, said hearing and said second keeper receiving the body portion of the first said wire member in sliding engagement and the spring arm keeper receiving the lateral spring arm in spring bearing engagement, the two wire members being mutually displaceable against the spring bias of said spring arm by opposed pulls on the two said members.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,974,381 Swanson et al. Sept. 18, 1934 2,189,979 Fender Feb. 13, 1940 2,359,588 Shea Oct. 3, 1944 

